Garden 2019.

[Tank-Girl]

Lessons learned this growing season...

Cabbages need a finer mesh for their low tunnel if they are going to be replanted in the same bed next season to keep out the mango trash.

The trellis along the back fence is a waste of space and materials.
It doesn't get enough sun so everything that I have planted has been a failure.
Better to use the trellis in the front yard and plant more tomatoes.

I am not planting the disgusting Legion Roma tomatoes again.
I think I will stick with the Roma vf and tweak my growing techniques.
Big Beef tomatoes are the absolute bomb.
Hardly, vigorous, disease and virus resistant. The fruit they produce are huge, juicy and flavorful and there's a lot of them.

I have to install drip irrigation and a timer system.

I'll be doubling my potato planting next season.

I need to get a handle on growing beans. They're supposed to be the easiest thing in the world to grow but every year I struggle.

I need to put a finer mesh low tunnel over my Swiss chard. The insects ate it and left the yucky kale alone.
I need to plant more Swiss chard than the tripple 15 foot row I did.
Yeah..... I need to plant more kale because the guinea pigs and the chickens love the stuff.

Weed mat and insect proof low tunnels have proven their worth this whole season.
It has been money and effort well spent.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Will be ordering my copy of Baker's Rare Seed catalog as they have sent me an email.

 

[Bacpacker]

I've already requested a few seed catalogs, Baker Creek was one of them. They are far and away my favorite.
Also bought a drip irrigation kit for the garden next year. I'm planning on setting it up with the onions, tomatos, peppers, and cukes. May expand it to squash and melons depending on how much rain we get next year.

 

[Tank-Girl]

Looking through seed catalogs and ebay to get tooled up ready for next season.

Irrigation is going to be the main focus because as much as I adore hand watering the amount of time it takes every morning is ridiculous.
I need more 50 cell flats to start larger seedlings like zucchini and tomatoes.

This coming pension I am spoiling myself and buying motherwort and toothache plants from a rare herb nursery online.
They also sell organic dried herbs so I'll buy 50 grams of their dried Motherwort so I can make more tincture straight away.
Motherwort is extremely difficult to start from seed so it's well worth the money to buy seedlings.
I'm going to try taking cuttings and air layering my older Motherwort plants to see if I can increase the number of plants that way.

I've started planting my hydroponic grow cubes so I can start up my hydroponic system again.
There's just no way I can grow greens in this heat.
I'll also put a few tried and tested cherry tomato varieties in the system.

 

[LadyLocust]

Looking through seed catalogs and ebay to get tooled up ready for next season.

Irrigation is going to be the main focus because as much as I adore hand watering the amount of time it takes every morning is ridiculous.
I need more 50 cell flats to start larger seedlings like zucchini and tomatoes.

This coming pension I am spoiling myself and buying motherwort and toothache plants from a rare herb nursery online.
They also sell organic dried herbs so I'll buy 50 grams of their dried Motherwort so I can make more tincture straight away.
Motherwort is extremely difficult to start from seed so it's well worth the money to buy seedlings.
I'm going to try taking cuttings and air layering my older Motherwort plants to see if I can increase the number of plants that way.

I've started planting my hydroponic grow cubes so I can start up my hydroponic system again.
There's just no way I can grow greens in this heat.
I'll also put a few tried and tested cherry tomato varieties in the system.

I love how you think Tank. My plant friends (heehee) have uses also. If I'm going to plant and care for something, I would like it to be useful.
I just got organic lettuce seeds and organic Brussels sprouts seeds half off. I might have to go back and see what else they have. I was already in checkout with someone waiting so didn't want to be one of "those" people. I will have a lot of work this spring to get the garden set to right, but am kinda looking forward to it - in a realistic after February sort of way.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Got my new Jung Seed catalog today.

 

[dademoss]

It's here

 

[Meerkat]

Lessons learned this growing season...

Cabbages need a finer mesh for their low tunnel if they are going to be replanted in the same bed next season to keep out the mango trash.

The trellis along the back fence is a waste of space and materials.
It doesn't get enough sun so everything that I have planted has been a failure.
Better to use the trellis in the front yard and plant more tomatoes.

I am not planting the disgusting Legion Roma tomatoes again.
I think I will stick with the Roma vf and tweak my growing techniques.
Big Beef tomatoes are the absolute bomb.
Hardly, vigorous, disease and virus resistant. The fruit they produce are huge, juicy and flavorful and there's a lot of them.

I have to install drip irrigation and a timer system.

I'll be doubling my potato planting next season.

I need to get a handle on growing beans. They're supposed to be the easiest thing in the world to grow but every year I struggle.

I need to put a finer mesh low tunnel over my Swiss chard. The insects ate it and left the yucky kale alone.
I need to plant more Swiss chard than the tripple 15 foot row I did.
Yeah..... I need to plant more kale because the guinea pigs and the chickens love the stuff.

Weed mat and insect proof low tunnels have proven their worth this whole season.
It has been money and effort well spent.

TankG try different seeds for the beans,sometimes it is the seeds.

 

[Meerkat]

I've already requested a few seed catalogs, Baker Creek was one of them. They are far and away my favorite.
Also bought a drip irrigation kit for the garden next year. I'm planning on setting it up with the onions, tomatos, peppers, and cukes. May expand it to squash and melons depending on how much rain we get next year.

I had some really good lemon squash seeds from them a few years ago but last couple years not much gardening so need to order more seeds.

 

[Bacpacker]

Never heard of Lemon Squash. Sou ds like something I need to try.

 

[Meerkat]

Never heard of Lemon Squash. Sou ds like something I need to try.

It is really good, small little disk like shape. Can't find pic but short video shows it. It is tasty.

 

[Bacpacker]

Thanks Meer

Baker Creek carries the seed for them.

https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/squash/summer-squash/lemon-squash

 

[Meerkat]

Thanks Meer

Baker Creek carries the seed for them.

https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/squash/summer-squash/lemon-squash

Yes its a summer type .Too bad I can't rhrow some plastic up where windows are but won't be fun crawling in and out of windows.PLus no raised floor, bad thought.

 

[snappy1]

I added fertilizer yesterday during our rain. Mustard greens look great as do collards. Have teeny weeny cauliflower heads now. No actual broccoli yet.

 

[Meerkat]

I added fertilizer yesterday during our rain. Mustard greens look great as do collards. Have teeny weeny cauliflower heads now. No actual broccoli yet.

Sounds good Snappy.
Our collards didn't do good at all, but the turnips aand greens did verygood. We just used compost on all of it but collard seeds must have been bad .First time we ued the seed company that I won't mention just in case it was one time bad seed packet.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Just downloaded my state's Extension Service's 2020 garden calendar.
Looks like Feb is going to be a busy time for me. Lots to do. Seeds to start and pruning of the berry bushes.
At the end of Feb I'm supposed to presprout seed potatoes ( whatever that means). So I guess I'll be heading into the hardware store to see if they have any seed potatoes before then

 

[Lodestar]

They call that "chitting out" the potatoes...don't let them get too long, because the sprouts are fragile. Nothing going in the gardens here in the great white north until late March (greenhouse starts) and into late April...of course, every year is a surprise.

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

I just read through this whole thread. I noticed that no one mentioned landrace seeds. This might be something for Tank Girl to consider.

Landrace seeds are the product of mixing seeds from different areas similar to one's own, planting the mix, and saving seed from any plant that does well in each year. If any plant shows an undesirable trait such as blight, scab ect or does not grow WELL in the current year's climatic/insect conditions, it must be ripped out before they can contribute to the gene pool.

If the fruit from plants that survive the first culls do not meet taste or other requirements, do not save seed from them.

Over time/years, one will have seeds that will grow something in your specific garden no matter what the conditions that year.

TG's incredibly expensive original seed costs and need to have food on the table may seem to prohibit producing landrace seed, but she is experiencing very high failure rates which are already costing a lot of time and money and not for lack of effort

Tomatoes are a great place to start as only one single tomatoe can produce hundreds of seeds. Zucchini , squash, beans, corn are also good contenders; all the stuff prone to diseases like fungus, that cannot be irradiated from the soil once it's there without sterilizing the soil, and we all know that isn't going to happen.

The trick to landrace seeds are gathering as many seed varieties as possible including seeds from other local gardeners (nab the neighbors free zucchini;you just need one) and plant as many of your random seed mix as you possibly can, and yes, you can include those F1 hybrids that are supposed to have the traits you are needing. They have a years head start.

Then, cry a lot and ruthlessly cull, cull cull. Fortunately you can eat most of the culls but cull any diseased plants immediately. Do not let them continue the cycle in your garden. The disease is in your soil and landrace is your best hope if space is limited and if one cannot practised serious rotation including distance and time.